Friday, Oct. 31, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.
Clark County has offered the job of leading the state's largest hospital to the director of a historic Chicago hospital familiar to millions from its appearances in television and movies.
Lacy Thomas, director of the John H. Stroger Hospital in Chicago, said Thursday evening that he will take the job as chief executive officer of the University Medical System and its satellites, including a network of urgent care centers.
"I have accepted," Thomas said from Chicago. "We're just negotiating some terms. We're just fine-tuning some things in the contract."
Thomas' hospital, formerly known as the Cook County Hospital, provides the setting for the popular medical drama "ER," and was the backdrop for scenes from the movie version of "The Fugitive."
Thomas, who has been director of Stroger Hospital since February 1999, has an extensive background from the financial side of public institutions. He has been the chief financial officer of the largest community college district in Illinois and for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, which was the parent agency for the Cook County Hospital, two other metropolitan hospitals and the Cook County Department of Health.
During his tenure as chief financial officer of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, Thomas reorganized patient billing functions to increase collections and took other steps to stop revenue losses.
The financial experience will be important for Thomas, who will take the reins of a hospital system that has spent two years in a fiscal dungeon. The Clark County Commission last December were forced to pony up $38 million to cover old debts and keep current on bills. Three months later, the hospital was still losing $3 million a month.
But by June, steps taken by the health-care institution under the direction of county management have trimmed the losses under $1 million. The month of September had recorded losses of about $700,000, County Manager Thom Reilly said, a figure that continues a trend of cutting the losses by about $100,000 every month.
Those figures will be formally presented to the Clark County Commission on Tuesday, when the board will also likely hear of progress on the chief-executive search for the hospital. The commission, which also serves as the hospital system board of trustees, will have to ratify Reilly's selection of Thomas.
"I think there's a general consensus that he was the top candidate," Reilly said. A panel of eight, including health care professionals from within and outside the UMC system, gave Thomas the top scores among all candidates, Reilly said.
"There's a nice balance," he said. "Lacy has a strong financial background, but he also has a keen understanding of medical issues and human resource issues, that important blend of financial credentials with a commitment to social responsibility."
Tom Beatty, executive director for Local 1107 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents UMC and county employees, said the selection is a good match for Las Vegas.
"It bodes very well for UMC for the future," Beatty said. "What we had was a very open and inclusive process which resulted in a very good candidate being hired.
"UMC and the community should be pleased to have him here in Las Vegas," he said.
Thomas, 46, said he has been to Las Vegas numerous times as a tourist. He also knows UMC Trauma Center Director Dr. John Fildes, who once worked at the Cook County Hospital.
Thomas echoed recommendations forwarded last month by a citizens task force on UMC's financial crisis. The group urged the hospital system to continue to focus on improving the mix of patients at the hospital, a move that would be important to offset nonpaying patients with more lucrative insured services.
"I'm looking forward to trying to ensure that we can offer the kind of quality health care that makes UMC the hospital of choice," Thomas said. "Patient mix is very important. You certainly want to make sure you don't drain the resources of the county."
Thomas said he will wait until he formally takes over the job in December from Acting Chief Executive Officer Mike Walsh before talking about specific courses of action.
"I've got a lot of ideas, but I don't want to blurt them out now," he said.
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